Black and White and Shades of Gray
by Kay Willow
Summary: Valentine's Day is a long-archaic holiday. So how do the people on GOA remember it?


This came out of nowhere. It was started on February 2nd, as just a vague idea, and finished by February 6th, although some of it has been twitched and poked into place at the end. This fic is not about Zero, or Erts, or anybody else I've been writing about so far. It's about Kizna, and a bit about the other Repairers. ^_^ What there is of the other people is purely for the purposes of furthering Kizna's fluffy thing. 

We're in manga continuity, which means absolutely nothing except that Erts knew Zero-tachi for several days before getting promoted, as opposed to several hours. It takes place somewhere in that period of "several days" -- after he's been introduced, but before he becomes a Pilot. 

This story will contain mention of shoujo ai. Not the shoujo ai pairing you might think, probably. It also contains hints of shounen ai, but if you don't like my favorite pairing, you can just ignore them, because they're not all that strong. 

So go read the fic! I don't care what couples you like! Read it anyway! I promise it's good! ^_^ 

* * *

BLACK AND WHITE AND SHADES OF GRAY   
a Valentine's Day fic   
by Kay Willow   
  


"Do you know what kind of a day February 14th was, in the Old World?" Kizna asked suddenly. 

"What old world?" Zero grunted, tugging on a cable he'd hauled out from the open hatch of his Pro-Ing. 

Distracted, Kizna smacked the back of his head to get his attention and scolded, "That's the visual cord! If you mess with that you won't be able to take advantage of the micro-sensors!" 

"So?" 

"So you'll be BLIND!" She snatched it away from him and tucked it back into the compartment where it belonged. "That's not the one that's busted. Look for a DIFFERENT thick blue cable." 

"They all look the same," he muttered in response, and went back to digging inside the jungle of wires. 

"You're the one who insisted on helping." It was another few minutes of exasperated silence before Kizna remembered their prior topic. "The original Old World. The planet where human life originated." 

"I don't know anything about that," Zero stated firmly, pulling out another cord. "What about this one?" he added, hopeful. 

"That one's OBVIOUSLY connected to the power system. It's motion-causal, can't you tell? That's what the ridges are there for," she told him. 

"Right. Whatever. Sorry I'm not a Repairer." 

"You should be sorry that you're getting in your Repairer's WAY." Kizna sighed and ran her hand over the Pro-Ing's smooth metal casing, a kind of apology for allowing its half-witted pilot to mess around with its insides. "Anyway, on that planet there was a holiday on February 14th called Valentine's Day." 

"Va-le-n-ti-n-e," Zero repeated dubiously. "That's a mouthful." 

"Only if you pronounce it deliberately like that. Do you remember hearing about this now?" she prompted. 

Zero pulled himself out of the hatch and scowled. "Where," he said distinctly, "did this holiday come from?" 

"I don't know," she said, laying her ears back flat against her skull at his condescending tone. "Why are you asking?" 

"Because with that name, it doesn't seem very likely that it's Japanese," he pointed out. "And I wouldn't know about _gaijin_ customs, now would I?" 

"What does 'guy-jin' mean?" Kizna asked. 

Zero shook his head. "Never mind. What's it all about?" He returned to his (probably futile) search. 

Kizna heaved herself up onto the Pro-Ing, seating herself on its shoulder and swinging her legs back and forth. "Valentine's Day was a kind of unofficial holiday when boys and girls would give their friends and relatives little gifts, like chocolates or flowers. Adults gave these things to their lovers or spouses." 

"How do you KNOW about this stuff, anyway--" 

"Everyone knows, Zero; it's all the girls would talk about yesterday--" 

"Is THIS the cord?" 

"No! It's not even blue!" 

Zero clambered back out of the hatch and practically threw himself at the other side of the walkway. "Fine! You do it!" he exploded. 

Kizna silently thanked whatever deity was working on her side and had convinced him to desist before he sabotaged his mecha. She gratefully dropped to the catwalk and hurried over to find the cable herself. 

It took her about twenty seconds to pick out the right one. She spotted the frayed area almost immediately and worked it out carefully to begin the repairs. 

Behind her, Zero spoke again, all of a sudden sounding muted. "I tried to help." 

"Yes, you did," she said absently. "And I appreciate the effort." 

"Really?" He practically tackled her, and she squawked inelegantly as he thrust a document in her face. "Sign this, then!" 

"What the--?!" Kizna shoved him away and grabbed the paper. "What's THIS?" 

"Well," Zero began sheepishly, pushing himself back upright, "today's Partner Appreciation Day." 

"I KNOW that. That's why I wanted to compare it with VALENTINE'S Day." 

"Azuma decided to make it mandatory," he continued, oblivious to her agitation. "Why else do you think we have the day off? The Candidates have to do something nice for their Repairers, and then the Repairer has to sign this sheet to show that he actually did it. That's why I was trying to help out." 

Kizna stared at him. "I can't believe you," she said faintly, but what she'd really meant to say was 'I can't believe you're capable of this degree of sophistication.' It was a minor miracle. I mean, a few weeks ago, he'd have just charged right up and told me to sign it, whether or not he'd deserved it. Today he actually made a pathetic attempt at fulfilling the request and then tried to manipulate me into signing it. I think he's improving.> 

Zero grinned hopefully. "Well?" 

She smacked him lightly upside the head, laughing. "Not for THAT, I won't!" 

"Oh, come on, what do you want from me?" he demanded, pouting. "I bet Yamagi isn't having this much trouble with HIS Repairer!" 

"What's her name?" was her smug return. 

"..." 

"I thought so. Have you ever even spoken to Tukasa-chan?" 

"..." 

"See why we Repairers feel so appreciated?" she teased. "I bet you'd like Tukasa-chan. She's a really nice person, and fun to be around!"   
  
  
_ "Yama-san~!" his partner trilled. "How about a backrub~?"_

_ "NO!" Yamagi yelped before he could stop himself from sounding like a panicked terrier. He quickly covered_   
_ up with, "I TOLD you! I don't want to do anything that involves physical contact!"_

_ "But don't you need me to sign that paper, Yama-san...?" The tall young woman loomed over him with a pouty_   
_ expression that nearly blocked out the halogen lights above them. It was extremely menacing. Then again, it was_   
_ probably intended to be that way._

_ Yamagi riled instinctively. "Yes, but it doesn't say anything about backrubs!" He scowled. "And STOP CALLING_   
_ ME THAT!"_

_ Tukasa sulked. Then a broad grin spread across her face. "Yama-san... a foot massage?"_

_ "NO, DAMNIT!"_   
  


Zero sat down cross-legged in the middle of the catwalk and sulked. "If I get to know Tukasa, will you sign the paper?" 

"No." Kizna crossed her arms and tapped one finger against her lip, pretending to think hard. "Let's see... what can you do for ME..." 

"Don't be greedy," Zero warned. "I'm not doing anything dramatic." 

"I'm not cruel," she said by way of protest, earning a flat glance from her partner. "Nothing unreasonable, I promise." 

But the more she thought about it, the less entertaining it seemed. She could GET almost anything she wanted out of Zero on a regular basis. When she needed him to help her, it was child's play to convince him to lend a hand. When she needed his attention, all she had to do was kick him a bit until he acknowledged her. When she needed to bully him into doing things her way instead of his, all she had to do was tweak the truth a bit and push him in her direction while claiming to be sending him in his own. 

The only thing she never really had was... conversation. Just for fun. Hanging around and talking like friends, instead of bickering or palling around with the whole group. They never TALKED about things. 

It's an age-old complaint of women that their guy friends don't have sincere heart-to-heart discussions with them. Let it not be said that Kizna was immune to this innately female feeling. 

However, Kizna was a bit more practical about it. Kizna did not expect Zero to sit down and tell her his innermost feelings. Kizna didn't expect Zero to tell her, outright, much of anything about himself. The only reason she knew that his native culture was Old World Japanese in origin was because he occasionally reverted to muttering to himself in that language. Zero was bizarrely private in that way, and she respected his need for distance. 

Still. 

"You wouldn't let me talk about Valentine's Day at all," she grumbled. 

"Fine! Talk about it! I'm listening." Zero arranged his face into a caricature of rapt attention. 

Kizna waved the paper at him meaningfully. "I don't want to lecture you. I just wanted to say that it's a weird coincidence, that GOA should make its Partner Appreciation Day on the same day as Valentine's Day in the Old World." 

"It's probably not a coincidence," he countered immediately. 

"It's not?" She gave him a skeptic look. "What is it, then?" 

Zero blinked. "I dunno. It just doesn't seem coincidental. I mean, Valentine's Day is to honor the people important to you, right? And Partner Appreciation Day is to remind us that we can't make it alone. They're two really related concepts." 

Kizna found herself staring at him. Sometimes... he really seems almost... insightful.> She forced a laugh. "You're getting to be like Clay." 

"I hope you're kidding," he growled back, instantly losing that mysterious air and seeming much more himself. 

Feeling much better already, Kizna winked at him. "I don't know, maybe I'd like to trade places with Saki and see what it's like to have an intelligent partner for once..."   
  
  
  
_ Saki stared blankly at the thick sheaf of papers in her lap. Clay beamed at her expectantly._

_ After a long minute, she asked, "What is this?"_

_ "It's an analysis of your strengths and your flaws as a Repairer!" he said enthusiastically. "I've been watching_   
_ you and I've noted all the things you did wrong and all the things you were good at and I've composed a short_   
_ dissertation on what you need to do to improve!"_

_ Saki stared blankly at the thick sheaf of papers in her lap. Clay blinked, noticeably confused by her lack of enthusiasm._

_ "There's lots of helpful tips in there, and strategies you can use to make yourself better," he added. "You can probably_   
_ become the best Repairer in our series if you study this well!"_

_ "...he couldn't just have given me chocolate," she murmured. Then she shook herself and GLARED at him, making_   
_ him instantly back up with his hands in the air defensively. "Who are YOU to go around writing up lists about how_   
_ I can improve as a Repairer? YOU are the WORST Candidate in all GOA!"_

_ "But, but that's not what it--"_

_ "Maybe YOU should be the Repairer and I should be the Candidate, huh?!" Saki hollered, leaping for him. He wasn't_   
_ getting away yet -- she was just getting started._   
  


"You probably wouldn't like it very much," Zero muttered under his breath. "Considering what a moron Clay is when he's not serving as a walking encyclopedia." 

Kizna ignored that. "I guess you're right, though," she observed thoughtfully. "Both holidays are a tribute to partners. But if you're so very aware of the spirit of the occasion, why are you so reluctant to actually be useful?" 

She smirked at him teasingly as he glowered. "I'm not doing anyone any favors, least of all you, least of all today," he growled. "I don't want you getting any IDEAS. You think you're important enough." 

"Oh, I'M selfish." Kizna gave him a withering glance. "It could be much worse, you know. You could be stuck with, say, Wrecka-chan."   
  
  
  
_ For all that he adored her with every corner of his soul, Wrecka-chan's smile was beginning to scare Roose_   
_ just a little bit._

_ "So today you're obliged to do something for me?" she purred in a way that sent shivers racing up and down_   
_ his spine. "For ME? Oh, I'm so flustered, I don't know what to say~."_

_ She didn't look very flustered. Roose chuckled nervously, feeling like a mouse in a trap. He was no fool. He_   
_ knew perfectly well what was going to happen here today. Her narrowed eyes, her carefully-chosen stance, her_   
_ suspiciously sweet, playful smile that positively dripped innocence and purity..._

_ No, Roose was no fool._

_ "Funny that this chance should come around right now," Wrecka murmured almost subvocally, drawing closer to_   
_ him, smile turning just a bit predatory as she spied the sweat breaking out across his forehead in anticipation._   
_ "Just when I need it..."_

_ "N... Need it?" he squeaked, frozen stiff as she raised a hand and laid it carefully against his cheek._

_ "I see you know what I mean." Wrecka beamed at him._

_ Roose swallowed and thought frantically for a way out -- but it was too late._

_ "I've been thinking quite seriously about starting to wear makeup, and I just COULDN'T try it out on myself; what_   
_ would the other girls say if I got it WRONG? Roose, YOU'LL help me, won't you?"_   
  


"Well, I'm grateful for that," Zero admitted. "She's a nightmare, that girl. I mean, she seems to be very generous in her--" 

Kizna glared at him. 

"--rewards," he substituted, leaning backwards until he laid prone on the patterned metal. "But when you think of the price you have to pay... guinea pig to her latest phase... It's a good thing she got Roose. I don't think anyone else would put up with her." 

"I don't think they'd have much choice." Kizna relaxed and sprawled out on the floor beside him so that her feet rested near his head and she had a perfect view of his obviously uncared-for regulation boots. "When you think about it, she'd probably just walk all over him if he actually objected. It's better to just go along with her and not try and fight it." 

"YOU don't," he pointed out. 

It was funny -- she'd never suspected that Zero had noticed the little power struggle she and Wrecka were constantly engaged in. Wrecka (who longed to be the "leader" of their little clique of girls) was always trying to undermine Kizna's almost unconscious assumption of control. Kizna never actually WANTED the position of leader, and would've been more than happy to just give it to Wrecka, but it simply wasn't in her nature. She was who she was, no more and no less -- Wrecka couldn't make her be any less open or friendly or good-natured than she always was, and Kizna wasn't about to make it so for Wrecka-chan's convenience. 

Kizna shrugged awkwardly. "I try not to get on her bad side," she excused. "Wrecka just seems to put me there automatically." 

"If I promise to be very grateful that you're not Wrecka, will you--" 

"NO." 

Zero exhaled dramatically and flopped his limbs as if to demonstrate his cluelessness. "Then what do I have to do?" 

"Just calm down for a little while, okay? Let's think about this." A breeze drifted by, upsetting the delicate fur on Kizna's ears; she flicked them absentmindedly. Think, think, think. What concessions will I get out of him...?> 

A wicked grin spread across her face. "How about... tonight at dinner you dance in front of the whole Academy?" 

"Not if your life was in danger," he vowed. 

Kizna made an effort to hold back her snickering. "What if I asked you to... lose a match to Hiead-kun?" 

"Are you CRAZY?! Not if it was the only way to save Zion from the Victim!!" 

"What if I asked you to lose deliberately to Yamagi-kun?" she dared. 

"Still no, no, and no." 

She laughed and schooled herself to think about the situation seriously. Then she brightened as a thought came to her immediately. "Oh, hey! You can buy me that new hat I wanted at the supply depot!" 

"Nope." 

"What?" she demanded, taken aback. "Why not? You've got the money, I know GOA gives you your allowance twice monthly and you just got paid, and you never buy anything with the money anyway--" 

"I just won't." Zero refused to say anything else. 

Kizna forced herself to relax. He might be saving up for something. He's probably not willing to waste his money when something so simple as running an errand will do just as well.> She took a deep breath, then considered some more. "Maybe... you can give me your dessert at supper tonight." 

"Nope." 

Kizna flipped over to scowl at him. "You aren't even trying," she accused. 

Zero said nothing. 

What's FOR dessert tonight anyway? Is it even edible? He can't possibly be fond of whatever it is; he loathes the cafeteria food...> She tried to find something he'd find acceptable, but failed. She said, "Well, what are the other Candidates doing for THEIR Repairers?" 

"Yamagi told me he was just going to ask her to sign it. It's not going to work," Zero predicted. Kizna had to agree. "He said if that fails, he'll try and get her a new tool set or something even less romantic to try and push her away, but that won't work either." 

Again, Kizna had to agree. Poor Tukasa. Practically all she ever talks about is Yamagi-kun, and he's obviously never going to get over that height thing.> 

"Clay is going to do something retarded for Saki-chan." Zero sniggered. "I think he's writing a novel about what she does wrong. She'll flatten him." 

...she will.> 

"Roose said he'd do whatever Wrecka-chan wanted him to do, OF COURSE," her partner was continuing disdainfully. "He practically glowed. That boy scares me sometimes, almost as much as SHE does." 

Kizna felt that same sense of sympathy, this time directed at Candidate rather than Repairer. I wonder if he knows how proud she is that she can manipulate him with her eyes closed...?> 

"And who the hell knows what Hiead's going to do?" Zero snorted. "Like that guy's got an appreciative bone in his body. The only way he could express how much he 'appreciates' Ikhny-chan is to spit in her soup." 

"That's disgusting," Kizna scolded automatically. Then she shifted, awkward all of a sudden as she remembered Ikhny and the other girl's precarious situation. "You don't think he's going to... hurt her or something, do you?" 

"You mean is he gonna tear her head off like he keeps trying with everybody else? Nah. Not even Hiead's low enough to fight with a girl." He stretched casually and rested his hands behind his head. "Besides, Ikhny-chan's smart. She'll know better than to get on his nerves." 

Kizna frowned. She was worried anyway.   
  
  
_ Ikhny huddled in her bed, under the blankets, curled as tightly as she could manage. She was starting to sweat,_   
_ because it was well-heated in the Repairers' cells and she was still fully-dressed as she burrowed deeper into hiding._

_ She wasn't harmed, and that was good. She wasn't crying, and that was good. No violence had been done, no_   
_ threats had been made, no attempts to explain or to distance, and those were all good things._

_ But looking into those dead eyes, and knowing what today was supposed to be, and knowing that the only_   
_ acknowledgement he made of it was what was absolutely necessary..._

_ Ikhny shivered. She hated his eyes, totally devoid of life and totally consumed with ice. Every time she looked at_   
_ them she felt worthless, a mere irritation, a slug that had somehow wandered onto the pre-set path of his life._   
_ Partner Appreciation Day was a joke in his eyes; she was a tool to him, not something valuable and irreplaceable_   
_ like a partner._

_ So he'd held out the form, not even bothering to tell her what it was for._

_ And without a word, she'd signed it._

_ And she'd listed his deed as "consideration"._

_ "It's all a joke," she whispered into the pillow._

_ No harm. No crying. No violence, no threats, no lies._

_ She found most depressing the fact that she could no longer even hope for anything more than that._   
  


"Maybe I ought to go try and find her," Kizna said doubtfully, sitting up. 

Zero rolled his eyes. "She'll be fine! We'll go look in on her later, okay?" 

"Why are you so determined to be unhelpful?" she snapped. 

"I'm just not in the mood for anything like that!" he retorted, which made no sense at ALL, but Kizna decided not to argue with him. He was obviously in SOME kind of mood, and if he wanted to act all bitchy, then far be it for her to try and get a reason out of him. 

So Kizna lowered herself back to the floor and screwed up her forehead, thinking as hard as she could. "Erts-san!" she cried triumphantly. "What's Erts-san doing for Rome-senpai?" 

Zero grinned. "He said he's helping her pick out a new dress," he said smugly. "You want a new dress, Kizna? I won't be afraid to tell you how fat it makes you look." 

She kicked him, as a matter of course, but she'd been distracted. "Rome-senpai is buying a dress...?" 

"The Seniors get more allowance than we Third Troop guys do," Zero reminded her, scowling briefly at the perceived injustice. "And Rome's from a nice family, or something, and they send her money. She wants a new dress. I don't know where she's going to WEAR it, since uniforms are mandated at all times on GOA, but whatever." 

"A nice dress? From the upper level?" Kizna pressed. Very few normal Candidates got to see the upper level, a small area near the center of the GOA satellite devoted to several basic stores -- one of which, as every Repairer Candidate knew, was an elite fashion boutique. 

"No, an ugly old dress they're going to pick out of Dr. Rill's trash bin." Zero chuckled. "Yeah, a nice dress from the upper level." 

Kizna closed her eyes and tried to imagine it. "I bet she'll look beautiful," she murmured. Rome was always elegant, so maybe something long and sweeping; or she could always pick out a shorter, more trendy dress that hugged her figure... 

Zero made a noncommittal sound. "She will!" Kizna reaffirmed instantly. "Rome-senpai is gorgeous even in uniform; she'll look stunning in a nice dress--" 

"You know, you probably ought to say something," Zero inserted, affecting a casual air. 

It brought her slamming to a halt. "What do you mean?" she demanded, ears instinctively flipping back defensively. "Say something about what?" 

Zero's teasing grin made her blood go cold. He doesn't know! He's too stupid to know! I mean, he's ZERO! Zero the oblivious, the idea-repellent, the boy so totally out of touch with other people's emotions that he walks all over them without even noticing...> 

"That you've got a crush on Rome," he said, as if it were perfectly natural. 

Zero, the boy who is every now and then so piercingly insightful that I can't breathe for solid minutes.> Kizna rolled on her side, facing away from him so he wouldn't see her blushing. "What makes you think that?" she barely managed to get out before he answered. 

"It's obvious," he said, condescending. "I mean, you keep STARING at her when me and Erts work as a pair; you get all giggly and red whenever you act like an idiot in front of her--" 

"Hey!" 

"--and, I mean, you ARE a lesbian." 

Kizna scrambled to her feet, rounding on him; she had the awful feeling that her show of anger was ruined by the flush on her cheeks and her stammering. "What... what is making you jump to all these stupid conclusions?!" she shouted. 

She could feel attention all across the hangar shifting to them, and blushed further. 

Zero shrugged, effortlessly rolling his shoulders and launching himself off the ground and onto his feet in one smooth motion. "Well, why else would you get so upset when I mentioned Wrecka's 'secret'?" he said. "And, I mean, you were never attracted to ME or anything." 

It was all she could do not to attack him. Amazing. Just amazing. He made that assumption on the least relevant evidence ever presented in the HISTORY of the human race, and by sheer coincidence it is CORRECT.> She sagged limply against the railing of the catwalk, feeling flattened. "That is retarded, but I'm not going to bother explaining to you why. You're right anyway." 

"Of course I am." Zero grinned his obnoxious punch-me-in-the-jaw-I'm-begging-for-it grin again. "So you should just tell Rome." 

"WHY? So I can EMBARRASS myself?" she hissed back. "Better to be a cute kouhai than to be the girl who foolishly liked her!" 

"If you think Rome is going to be randomly cruel to you, you don't know her half as well as I do," Zero told her confidentially, drawing closer to keep the matter as private as he could. What do you know, he DOES have basic human decency...> Then he added, "Besides, it's Valantino's Day, or whatever, right? So you should tell her." Nod nod, smile smile. "It's tradition." 

Kizna stared at him, then burst out laughing. "Give me that sheet, you moron." 

Zero blinked, then eagerly shoved it at her. She took it and filled it out as best she could -- considering that she couldn't see it very well because she was practically crying she was laughing so hard. 

When she got to the part that inquired about what particular thing her Candidate had done for her, she shook her head and checked off "quality time".   


  
_ "What do you think of this one, Erts-san?"_

_ He looked up from his book and smiled reflexively. The cloth was premium quality and cut more to accentuate_   
_ slenderness than neckline or leg; it was long and unrevealing, modest, and very Rome. The powder-blue color_   
_ suited her, and -- most importantly -- he could feel her pleasure at the sensation of being well-dressed in_   
_ quality fabric radiating outward from her in gentle spirals. Erts' foster family had been wealthy, and he had_   
_ grown familiar with the joy of dressing up from them, although he had never shared it._

_ "That one is beautiful," Erts said, unable to find better words. "It's perfect. You think so too, don't you?"_

_ Hardly an eloquent appraisal, but Rome would know better than he, and Erts could already tell that she loved_   
_ the dress. He felt inexplicably awkward here, reminded of his adopted family and the world they had lived in,_   
_ and the nagging sense of unworthiness and insecurity that those things had constantly bred in him. This part of_   
_ GOA -- on a higher level than the supply depots, intended more for the salaried Instructors and medical crew_   
_ than for the Candidates and their Repairers, where a handful of expensive stores dominated an understated,_   
_ tastefully elite atmosphere -- was not one he ventured into often._

_ She turned to the mirror and smiled warmly at his reflection. "Yes. Do you suppose I can afford--"_

_ "Rome, you have enough money saved to buy the whole store," Erts reminded her, smiling back. "If you like, we_   
_ can go look at shoes to match."_

_ The dark-haired girl looked almost torn with indecision, caught between her chance to indulge and her duty to_   
_ further her Candidate. ~It is Partner Appreciation Day,~ he could hear her think wistfully in an unguarded_   
_ moment, ~so maybe just this once...~_

_ A noise from one side distracted him, and he lost his focus, blinking and feeling suddenly blinded by a new_   
_ intensity of light. When his vision cleared again he recognized Kizna after only a moment of confusion, as he_   
_ had never encountered Zero's Repairer without Zero and was unsure what she wanted from him._

_ But she appeared not to notice his regard, patting at her hair almost nervously, surely feeling dull and faded_   
_ among the bright and beautiful things of the store. In spite of this, she was watching Rome with an unwavering_   
_ resolve._

_ Erts had to fight a smirk. He'd felt it once or twice before, when he and Zero had trained; the intensity of the_   
_ older girl's concentration on the match was near-frightening at times -- but when Rome had spoken or laughed_   
_ that attention had fluxed and shifted target. Kizna's mind was always quiet with respect and admiration when_   
_ Rome was around, and emotions were Erts' specialty; he recognized a crush when he saw one._

_ Rome turned around, to ask him another question, and saw Kizna standing there in the entrance. She stood still,_   
_ frozen in surprise, but then the tension seeped out of her, and she smiled warmly. Kizna relaxed in turn,_   
_ loosening her grip on her battered hat, and stepped forward, thinking of Zero's advice and Valentine's Day_   
_ and how absolutely stunning Rome looked like that..._

_ I suppose I should've known it would be Zero's doing,> Erts thought with amusement as he slipped away,_   
_ unnoticed._   
  


"You actually DID it, though?" Wrecka asked, looking both curious (she was the queen of gossip, after all) and upset (at having been shown up again). 

"I did," Kizna crowed, giggling with the others. 

"What did she say?" Tukasa asked, thrumming dark voice a bit wet from the... something that they were having for supper. "She obviously didn't turn you down, or you wouldn't be so excited, but somehow I can't see her accepting either..." 

Kizna jiggled happily. "Well, while she was very positive about it, after thinking things through she decided that right now we had to concentrate on helping Zero and Erts-san become Pilots. She's too focused on her job to do anything else, and I ought to be the same. But she told me that in the future, after all this is done with and the boys have been promoted or the war is over or whatever, I should ask her again, and she'll reconsider her answer." 

Ikhny smiled at her, and said, "So you have a good chance. I'm so glad for you!" 

"So am I!" Kizna squealed, leaning over impulsively and hugging the smaller girl tight. "It's just exciting!" 

"Well, I'll toast to that," Saki said warmly. The five girls laughed together and toasted with their plastic glasses. 

"Cheers to first love!" Tukasa urged. 

"Cheers to romance!" Saki seconded. 

"Cheers to boys!" Wrecka cried, drawing more laughter. 

"Well, then, cheers to GIRLS!" Kizna high-fived Wrecka over a nearly-hysterical Saki. 

"Cheers to partners," Ikhny said quietly. 

Kizna started, and gave her closest friend a thoughtful glance, but Saki broke into it by urging all the other Repairers to add their contributions, and soon enough nearly a hundred girls were standing on their chairs and toasting all sorts of things, oblivious to protests from the kitchen. 

"_Kanpai_!" 

* * *

Zero scowled down at the girls from his perspective on the second floor of the dining hall. "They're so loud," he muttered under his breath. 

Erts raised his eyebrows reflexively in wordless reply, and Zero had to add, "Well, I'm not so tame either. But they're doing STUPID stuff!" 

"It always seems quite intelligent when you're in the middle of it, I'm sure, but it doesn't look quite that way from an outsider's perspective," Erts told him with barely-concealed amusement. 

"Are you trying to tell me something?" 

"Oi, Zero." The older boy turned around in some surprise to find Yamagi standing behind him, tray in hand. "Why are you sitting over here at a two-person table? You guys should come join the rest of us." 

"I'm talking to Erts, idiot," Zero said affectionately, giving Yamagi a friendly clout on the shoulder. Yamagi flinched. "I'll go over and play with the rest of you tomorrow. Knowing what you clowns were up to, you can probably use the rest, anyway." He craned his neck to stare at them. "Clay's got bruises and Roose's eyelashes are so long and dark they're visible from here. What the fuck?" 

Yamagi shook his head. "I'm sure I don't know. I think I'll find someplace quiet to eat and then just go to sleep. For a few days." 

Zero gave him a strange look as the short boy wandered off. "See, now, Erts. That's why I like hanging out with YOU. No catfights, no crossdressing, no drugs." 

The blond laughed. "They've had a rough day today," he observed. Zero didn't comment. He wasn't really that interested in their day. Erts added teasingly, "You, on the other hand, appear to have escaped Partner Appreciation Day unscathed. Could it be because you didn't DO anything?" 

Zero didn't dignify that with a response either. 

"You wouldn't even give Kizna-san your dessert," his companion prodded further, and watched with no small amount of amusement as Zero reached across the table and snatched the shapeless treat off his tray with a fork. 

"Did you know," Zero finally said, neutral, "what holiday was on today's date in the Old World?" 

Erts blinked, then after a moment said, "Valentine's Day, I think. Why?" 

"That's one of those western things, right?" 

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken it originated in Europe." Zero gave him a withering glance, and Erts amended with a smile, "Which was in the west." 

"Well." Zero waved a fork in the air. "In Japan, on February 14th, we had a holiday a lot like that." 

"I think that WAS Valentine's Day, actually," Erts murmured half-heartedly. 

"It was called Black Day," he charged on anyway. "And girls gave gifts to the important guys in their lives, and that sort of thing." 

The younger boy cocked his head. "Only girls?" 

"Right. On MARCH 14th was White Day -- when guys gave gifts and stuff to the people in their lives." Zero popped the dessert into his mouth. 

At first this didn't appear to register, and then comprehension slowly dawned. "Oh... oh, I see! You wouldn't get Kizna-san anything because..." 

"Because it's a GIRL'S holiday," Zero confirmed. 

Erts rested his chin on his hand and gave Zero a meaningful look. "That's a silly reason to refuse to do anything for your partner," he scolded. 

"It is not!" Zero bristled visibly. "I wasn't going to get her any gifts or do her any favors, because that'd be FEMININE, and stuff! I could FIX something for her, that'd be all manly or whatever, but--" 

"You would never in a million years be able to pass as a girl, Zero -- I think your masculinity is safe," Erts whispered as though imparting a critical confidence. 

He waved it off. "Still, it's a matter of principle," he said airily. Erts didn't respond. 

Zero played with his so-called food without really seeing it. "How did Rome take Kizna's thing?" he asked, although he already knew the answer from the ruckus down below. 

"Very well, I thought," Erts said, nodding at him to show that his surrogate gift to Kizna had been a success. "She's very flattered and pleased, although I don't think she takes it very seriously." 

"She doesn't?" Momentary distress caused Zero to sit upright, sorry already at having recommended that course to his Repairer. 

"That's alright, though." Erts glanced down at the floor below, where the Repairers were still playing around energetically. "Kizna-san doesn't realize it, but her crush on Rome is just that -- a crush. She'll grow out of it soon. There's already someone who is more important to her, someone she loves more than she knows right now." A quick smile at Zero. "She'll figure it out on her own. Don't go trying to help." 

Zero huffed. "Nobody wants me to help with anything today." 

"I know, it's so funny how some people insist that help in delicate matters not be conducted with fists," Erts pretended to muse, and ducked to avoid the morsel of Zero's dessert that was flicked his way.   


  
_ On March 14th, Kizna Towryk woke to discover that a package had arrived for her, courtesy of the Academy's_   
_ intership mail system. The inconspicuous white-wrapped box had been left discreetly on the foot of her bed_   
_ by Instructor Nerala (who had of course inspected it first) because GOA believed that unwanted mail shouldn't_   
_ be a public ordeal to get rid of._

_ First looking around self-consciously to be sure that none of the other Repairers were present, Kizna crawled_   
_ to the other end of her bed and took the box in her hands, turning it over and looking for some identifying_   
_ marks. There was no return address (so whoever had sent it was probably unconcerned about whatever was_   
_ inside) and no stamps or postage marks (so whoever had sent it had to be on GOA -- or GIS, but she didn't_   
_ know anyone in GIS). It didn't rattle, although it did "thunk", and sounded like maybe there was a loose piece_   
_ of paper floating around inside. Of course, if it had been anything dangerous, it never would've made it past_   
_ Nerala, and there would've been an investigation._

_ Curious now, Kizna carefully removed the safety seal that compacted the box, and air rushed out with a hiss._   
_ She lifted the lid and peered inside._

_ The only thing inside was a hat. She snatched it up, turning it over, and realized in surprise that it was the_   
_ same hat she'd admired so much at the supply depot a few weeks back._

_ As she turned it over to check its condition, the piece of paper she thought she'd heard inside the box fluttered_   
_ loose from the fold where it had been wedged during her shaking. Kizna recognized Zero's scrawled, somewhat_   
_ unsteady handwriting immediately, and shook her head in wonder that the boy could be so amazingly weird_   
_ that he'd buy her a gift a month after the day when he should've gotten her one._

_ The note, when she picked it up, read, "I'll explain it to you someday. After this is over. Because we're partners."_

_ She blinked. Underneath that totally unintelligible line of text was a series of three strange, squiggly characters_   
_ that didn't look even remotely like Interplanetary Standard. They probably weren't, she thought with something_   
_ like amusement; he was probably making some smartass comment in his native tongue, secure in the knowledge_   
_ that she wouldn't be able to understand it._

_ "Ikhny?" she called, grinning all of a sudden as it sunk in. He hadn't been a total jackass for no reason at all._   
_ He'd been a moderate jackass, with some sort of inexplicable reason. "Everyone, come look!"_

_ In the end, when Kizna thought to ask around, nobody could make out the characters, although Wrecka_   
_ contributed helpfully that she'd had Zero write her name once in his language and none of the characters_   
_ looked anything like the ones on the paper._

_ Even Erts -- on GIS, still somewhat insecure in his new position but obscurely comforted by the simple sweater_   
_ he'd received in his own package -- couldn't make out those three characters, which followed his own message_   
_ as well._

_ And although he was asked, Zero refused to give any answer but a grin._

_ In Japanese hiragana, the characters spelled "_Zutto_"._

* * *

Vocab! "Gaijin" means foreigner, "senpai" and "kouhai" mean upperclassman and lowerclassman respectively, and ARE appropriate in this context; "kanpai" is a traditional drinking toast, and "zutto" means always or forever. Black Day and White Day really are Japanese "holidays" derived from Valentine's Day, and has anybody noticed how much I enjoy Zero's very different cultural background? I think it's just fun... 

If you can't see Rome and Kizna, I don't blame you. I don't think they're a love match or anything, but I also think it's entirely possible that Kizna has a thing for Rome. If you don't understand that, then you obviously never saw the manga scene where Kizna was watching Rome laugh with a soft smile on her face... 

See any hints of another possible Kizna relationship in there? Erts did. ^_^ 

I love everybody in Megami Kouhosei, I really do, and I have no intention of JUST writing about Zero and/or Erts, or Garu and/or Ernest. I also want to write about all the Repairers! All the other Candidates and Pilots! There's nobody I don't want to write about! 

I was lying in one of the above statements, but only one, so that evens out. ^_~ 

And, to boot, I love everybody and want to write about everybody but I don't own ANY of them. They all belong to Bunny-sensei and GUM comics and a whole bunch of other people. I only own merchandise. But if she ever loses her mind and wants to give these people away, I'll be the first person pounding at her door. I will swim the Pacific in order to be able to do this. 

Look for my website in the future~! 

--Kay Willow, gathering together her MK episodes so as to present them this weekend when her friends have a private anime showing   
AIM: Savinsilk   
Email: kay_willow@hotmail.com   
Quote: two actual lawyers, the prosecution and the defense respectively 

"When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being   
excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning   
you and she, with him to the station?" 

"Objection. That question should be taken out and shot." 


End file.
